Kyrie Irving is looking back favorably on his brief tenure with the Boston Celtics. Irving is set to face the Celtics in his third postseason matchup with the Cs since leaving Boston. Irving played two seasons for the Celtics before leaving in free agency to join his friend Kevin Durant in Brooklyn in 2019. He is widely regarded by his Dallas Mavericks teammates as the team’s vocal leader. That was not the case during his hectic time in Boston.
Irving played two seasons for the Celtics before leaving in free agency to join his friend Kevin Durant with the Brooklyn Nets during the 2019 offseason. Irving is widely regarded by his Dallas Mavericks teammates as the team’s loud captain. Angry Celtics fans and Irving shared some of those series’ most memorable moments. For example, the time a fan was arrested for hurling a water bottle at Irving following Brooklyn’s Game 4 victory in 2021. Now, ahead of the NBA Finals, Kyrie is reflecting on his relationship with Boston.
Kyrie Irving admitted he “lost his shit a little bit” interacting with fans at TD Garden in his last playoff matchup against the Boston Celtics with the Brooklyn Nets. He feels he’s grown since then and can handle it better.
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“I think I’m better at consolidating kind of the emotions now or being aware of what it’s going to be like,” Irving said. “We call it animosity, we call it hate, we call it, ‘It’s going to be hell in Boston.’ I mean, there are real, live circumstances going on in the world that are bigger than the basketball, kind of the competitive side of things and answering those questions,” Irving continued. He has been surprisingly forthcoming in talking about his experiences, which seems to show some character growth. Irving even admitted some of the criticism he faced was legitimate as one of the best players in the NBA
Kyrie reflected on some bad behavior on his part. He said, “But I will say last time in Boston, I don’t think that was the best — not this regular season, but when we played in the playoffs and everyone saw me flip off the birds and kind of lose my s— a little bit — that wasn’t a great reflection of who I am and how I like to compete on a high level.” Nevertheless, he felt that “a little bit more grace could have been extended my way. Especially what I was dealing with during that time as a human being.” Irving revealed he was dealing with the loss of a loved one during the tumultuous period. Overall, kyrie seems like he has matured immensely.
